


Wine and Sympathy

by tsuki_llama



Series: Distractions [4]
Category: Darker Than Black
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 15:57:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7445125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuki_llama/pseuds/tsuki_llama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fluffy "Distractions" short #2. Astronomics is having problems with one of its dolls. When Kanami stops by her friend Misaki's place for wine and sympathy, she finds some unexpected help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ishizaki Kanami studied the array of monitors and readouts, hoping to see some change. A myriad of tiny lights blinked back at her amid the general hum of ventilation tubes and oscillographs.

They were the same as they had been an hour ago - except for one. She leaned in closer; the needle on the gas exchange pressure gauge had moved almost a whole millimeter to the left. She tapped on the glass faceplate; the needle didn't budge.

"Still here, Chief Ishizaki?" a voice behind her asked. "I thought you clocked out already."

The Astronomics chief turned to see one of her colleagues enter the quarantine room with a clipboard. Mizuta was the third shift supervisor; despite working with him for almost five years, Kanami hadn't ever been able to warm to the man.

"I did," she told him, turning back to the monitors. "But I wanted to take one last look, in case there's something more I can do."

Mizuta joined her, and checked the readouts against the sheet on his clipboard. "We've done all the mandated interventions, performed all the adjustments possible, and there hasn't been any improvement. Frankly, I'm surprised the medium has lasted this long."

He squinted at the gas exchange needle. "Ah, oxygen consumption has decreased. I've never seen a medium recover functionality with such poor vitals; it would be most cost effective to terminate."

Kanami tried to keep her posture relaxed, placing her hands in her lab coat pockets to hide her irritation. "She's not gone yet. Her core temperature has remained stable for the last six hours. Adjusting the salinity earlier seems to have helped; I'm sure she'll at least stay with us until morning. I want you to keep a close eye on her tonight and let me know of any changes, no matter how small."

Mizuta pursed his lips. "You're the boss."

Kanami walked over to the stasis chamber that held the medium in question, the only one in the small quarantine room. Floating in a solution of buoyant salt water, her head shaved, eyes closed, mouth and nose covered by a respirator, the medium looked nearly identical to all their other female mediums. But Kanami could tell at a glance who the doll was, if she hadn't known already.

She laid her hand on the glass of the chamber, above the medium's heart. "Hang in there, Eunice," she said quietly. "I'll figure something out; I won't lose you."

Ignoring Mizuta's disdainful look, Kanami left the room. She stopped by her office to hang her lab coat on its hook on the back of the door, then grabbed her keys and jacket.

Sheets of cold rain greeted her outside. Kanami lingered under the portico and lit a cigarette while she waited for the downpour to slow. The lights of the city illuminated the undersides of the clouds in a dull orange glow, but the area surrounding the observatory was dark and black. The burning end of her cigarette was the only spark of light in the darkness.

"Damn Mizuta," she muttered, exhaling a long stream of smoke. She was sure that if she hadn't directly told him that she expected Eunice to last the night, he would have pulled the plug and let the doll die. To him, and to several others on her staff, the mediums were nothing more than expensive pieces of equipment, to be discarded when they couldn't be repaired.

Maybe the mediums _were_ tools, but they were living beings as well. It was only by treating them as such that they performed to their best ability. It was Kanami's ability to almost intuitively understand the workings of the mediums as individuals that had earned her a top position at such a young age. Her knowledge of Eunice's particular quirks and characteristics had so far kept the doll from slipping away, as the delicate beings so often did. They couldn't be treated with such callous indifference.

Thunder rumbled in the distance; the rain wasn't letting up, and the nicotine wasn't doing its job. Kanami sighed, and stubbed the cigarette out on a post before flicking it into the trash can. Then she held her jacket over her head and made a dash for the parking lot.

Instead of driving straight home, she made a detour through Shinjuku and pulled up outside of a familiar apartment building. Kanami counted windows through the rain. It was past midnight; Misaki's rooms were the only ones that showed light on her floor. Doubtless her friend was going over files for her current cases. The past couple of days had been pretty heavy with contractor activity, including Misaki's obsession: BK-201.

It looked like there was something hanging in the bedroom window, in front of the blinds, but she couldn't make out what it was. Maybe Misaki had run out of floor space, and was using the walls to organize her case notes; Kanami wouldn't put it past her.

She had begun to hope that now that her friend was finally dating again, she would rein herself in a little and stop being such a workaholic. Enjoy life a little more. However, Kanami hadn't seen any evidence of it yet. She wondered uncharitably how many times poor Li had been stood up so far. She hoped, for his sake, that he wasn't as diffident as he appeared. Otherwise it would be all too easy for him to end up as Misaki's bottom priority, no matter how much she liked him. Kanami had seen it happen before.

Within a few minutes, she had parked her beat-up old car and dashed into the building out of the rain. She made her way up to Misaki's door, dripping jacket in hand, knocked three times and waited.

And waited.

She was about to knock again when she heard footsteps rapidly approaching. A pause as the person on the other side looked through the peephole, followed by the snick of the deadbolt. The door opened at last to reveal her friend in wrinkled shorts and an inside-out tank top, bleary-eyed and disheveled.

"Oh, geez," Kanami said. "I'm sorry. I saw your light on, and I was sure you were still awake."

"I was awake," Misaki protested, holding the door open for Kanami to enter.

But Kanami hesitated. "It's not that important; I'll let you get back to sleep."

"You wouldn't be here if it wasn't important. And anyway, I wasn't asleep." She stifled a yawn.

Kanami quirked an eyebrow. "Liar."

Misaki smiled. "Fine. I'd dozed off, but I hadn't meant to be asleep yet; I still have work I want to finish up tonight. Here," she held out her hand for Kanami's jacket. "I'll hang that in the bathroom. There's a new bottle of wine in the fridge."

"Thanks, a glass of wine would be perfect," Kanami said as Misaki took her rain-sodden coat. She walked in and kicked off her shoes, then headed to the kitchen where a mess of files was spread out on the counter.

Her friend returned as Kanami finished pouring out a second glass of cheap chardonnay, both her and Misaki's favorite. Misaki had combed her hair and turned her shirt around, and was looking a little more human. The two women took their wine and settled onto the sofa. The rain made a dull drumming sound on the balcony.

Kanami felt something lumpy against her back; reaching behind the cushion, she pulled out a pale blue bra that she recognized as part of the set that Misaki had bought on their shopping trip a few days ago.

"Oh!" Misaki said, turning bright red. "Sorry!" She leaned forward and snatched it from Kanami's hand, then looked at it in her own hand, clearly unsure what to do with it. After a moment she got up and disappeared into the dark bedroom.

Kanami stared after her friend. Misaki wasn't a prude, but she'd always been extremely straight-laced and almost shy when it came to relationships. Li had seemed pretty shy too. Finding an errant piece of underwear in her own apartment was nothing unusual, but in Misaki's?

"Please tell me that that was there because Li couldn't wait to get you out of it, and not because it fell out of the bag and you never noticed," Kanami said when Misaki returned to the sofa.

Misaki picked up her glass and took a long sip. "I didn't know it was there," she said, as usual ignoring the actual question.

Kanami raised her own glass to hide her amusement. "Did you see him last weekend then?" she pressed.

"You didn't stop by so late to ask me about my love life," Misaki pointed out, not unkindly.

Kanami sighed, and swirled the wine in her glass before drinking. She'd almost managed to forget her own problems for a minute there.

"We're having trouble with one of our mediums," she said.

"What's going on?"

"I'm not sure, exactly. I started noticing small changes in her specters a couple of weeks ago - slower response time, reduced range, things like that. None of our mediums are one hundred percent consistent, so it didn't seem like anything to be worried about," Kanami said, inwardly berating herself - again - for not picking up on the significance sooner. "Then her vitals started slipping. Again, the changes were small, but they never fully recovered before they would drop a little more."

"What causes that?" Misaki asked, frowning.

Kanami shrugged. There was a faint red spot on the carpet in front of her; she rubbed at it idly with her toe. "When we see gradual changes like that, it usually means a malfunction in the equipment, like a slow leak in a piece of tubing or a faulty connection. But we checked everything out, even moved her to a new stasis chamber and flushed the system, and didn't find any problems."

"Then what do you think the problem is?"

"I don't know. Sometimes, dolls just…slip away, for no reason that we ever discover. They're incredibly frail, and we do work them hard in Astronomics. Older dolls are especially delicate, and Eunice is one of our oldest - she's been there for longer than I have. In fact," Kanami added with a sad smile, "of the mediums I trained with when I was first hired, she's the last one left. I hate losing any of them, but I guess I'm more sentimental about Eunice than the others."

"Eunice?" Misaki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What? I heard the name when I was visiting the observatory in Hawaii, and I like it," Kanami said defensively. Eunice was the first medium she'd given a name to; she'd gotten some of the younger techs to start using names instead of ID numbers, but most of the staff would just look at her as if she was talking about naming a refrigerator.

"Anyway," she continued, "Mizuta thinks she's at the end of her useful life, and should be terminated."

Misaki snorted. "Mizuta." She'd heard plenty about him over the years.

"I hate to agree with him, but I just don't know what else to do. If there was something physically wrong with her, I could find a way to treat it. But it's almost like…" she trailed off.

"Like what?"

Mizuta would laugh at her if she said this to him, but she knew that Misaki never would. "You know when elderly people go into the nursing home, and their families never visit, and they start getting depressed? It gets worse, but gradually, so that no one really notices. Then one night they pass away quietly in their sleep, and no cause of death can be determined. Like they just give up on living. It's like that."

"You think the medium is depressed?" Misaki considered the idea thoughtfully, as if it actually made sense.

"There's aren't any physical signs that I can read, but that's what my gut tells me, as impossible as it is." Her wine glass was almost empty. She got up to refill it. "Want another?"

Misaki handed her half-full glass over absently. "How old is she? I didn't think there were any elderly dolls, aside from Madam Stargazer."

Kanami poured out two more glasses and left the bottle on the counter. "Sorry, I don't mean old as in biological age. When we talk about dolls being 'old', we're referring to the length of time that they've been dolls. The oldest, dating from the first appearance of the Gates, have been dolls for ten years. There aren't many of them left in the world; most of our mediums are newer."

"Why not? Thanks," Misaki said, taking the now-full glass back as Kanami returned to the sofa.

"A number of reasons. A lot of them were used in early, unethical experiments, before the UN got its act together and banned that sort of thing," Kanami said in distaste. "They can't defend themselves, so many are killed in contractor-related operations. And now we have to worry about the older ones just…getting worn out. Fading away."

"Eunice doesn't have much time left, does she," Misaki said gently.

Kanami shook her head and sighed glumly. "Probably not."

"I wish there was something I could do to help." Misaki tapped her fingers on her knee. "Are you sure it's impossible?"

"Am I sure what is impossible?" The wine was filling her head with a pleasant, warm buzz, dulling the frustration she'd been feeling all day. But it was also dulling her ability to track the conversation.

Misaki's brow was furrowed in that way it always was when she was connecting dots. "For dolls to be depressed."

"Well, like I said, there aren't any physical signs that we can read, and their limbic systems are completely offline. Eunice is no exception. It _should_ be impossible. But…I don't know." She shrugged despondently. "Unfortunately, it's not like we can just ask them how they're feeling."

"What if you could?" asked a new voice quietly from the hallway. Both women looked up in surprise; Kanami nearly dropped her glass.

Li was standing at the entrance to the living room.

At least, she thought it was Li. The open smile she remembered was missing, and in those slim-fitting black pants, he looked less like a college student and more like he'd just walked off the set of a Bruce Lee film. He looked more serious, more…dangerous than he had the other two times she'd seen him.

…Of course, he'd been wearing a shirt those other two times.

Li moved to stand next to Misaki, who had recovered from the surprise first. "I thought you were going to go back to sleep," she said apologetically, reaching up and touching his arm. "Were we talking too loudly?"

"No. I was listening. Sorry."

This didn't seem to bother Misaki. "Well, if you're going to stay and talk with us, go put a shirt on," she said with a smile, "so Kanami can close her mouth again."

Kanami huffed. Her mouth _was_ closed.

Li looked down at his bare chest as if only now realizing that he was shirtless, and blushed faintly. Adorably. "I only have my uniform shirt tonight, remember?"

The statement didn't make any sense to Kanami - why couldn't he put on a work shirt? - but Misaki evidently understood it. "Oh. Right. Look in the bottom drawer of my dresser, I have an old shirt that should fit you."

He returned to the bedroom without a word. _Obedient_ , Kanami mused as she watched him go. Then she turned to her friend.

" _Misaki!_ " Kanami hissed, leaning forward and pushing her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me he was here, we could have talked tomorrow instead!"

Misaki picked up her wine glass and took a large gulp. "You don't really think I'd let a guy get in the way of my friendships, do you? Besides, I thought he was asleep. He needs it," she added quietly, mostly to herself.

"It's the middle of the work week," Kanami said. Misaki never did anything social on work nights if she could avoid it; Kanami was dying to know the circumstances that had led to Li crashing at her place tonight. Caught in the rain, and invited in for dinner?

But Misaki refused to rise to the bait. "Yes," was all she said, a little defensively.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Misaki?"

"Oh, come on," Misaki said, cracking a smile.

Kanami drained the rest of her glass. "I mean it. Bras under seat cushions, sexy man-slaves at your beck and call - don't get me wrong, I approve one hundred percent. It's just…unexpected."

Misaki looked down at her wine awkwardly, and tucked her feet up underneath her on the sofa.

"Want some more?" Kanami got up to refill her glass, at the same time that Li reentered the room.

"No, I've had too much already," Misaki said, with a hand to her temple.

"Less than two glasses," Kanami needled her.

"It's a work night - and I'm not twenty anymore."

_Some things will never change_ , Kanami thought with a smile. "You never were twenty, even when you were. Li, what about you?"

"No, I don't drink," he said.

Misaki glanced up at him then, and burst out with a laugh. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to laugh. Pink looks good on you."

Kanami recognized the shirt as a souvenir that Misaki had gotten for free at a pop concert that she and Alice had dragged Misaki to in high school; it was so big, Misaki had used it as a nightshirt for years.

It wasn't big on Li though, lean though he was; it fit him like a muscle tee. A bright pink muscle tee.

Any other guy would have been embarrassed to be seen in it, she was sure, but Li didn't look the least bit uncomfortable. There wasn't a smile on his face, but he was looking at Misaki with such tenderness in his dark eyes that Kanami felt like a voyeur, intruding on an intimate moment.

"What do you mean, you don't drink?" she asked, to remind them that she was still in the room. "You bought beers for yourself and Misaki at the bar, I remember." She didn't remember a lot from later in that night, but she did remember that.

Li took a seat on the floor, sitting back against the sofa beneath Misaki's feet. "I didn't drink it."

"You didn't, did you," Misaki mused, letting her bare foot slip down to brush his shoulder. "Is that - " She cut herself off, but apparently Li knew what she was going to ask.

He looked up at her with an amused expression, and caressed her foot. "No. I had too much once, and I didn't like it. That's all."

"Just as well," Kanami said. "There's not enough for two more anyway."

She emptied the last of the wine into her glass, and contemplated the two of them. Misaki disliked public displays of affection (even close friends counted as public, for her). Yet there she was, allowing that intimate touch without any sign of embarrassment or disapproval.

They'd only been seeing each other for a month or so; knowing Misaki as she did, and based on her impression of Li, Kanami had been imaging a handful of dates, maybe one or two shy and awkward nights together. She could see now that she'd been completely wrong. Seeing them interact was like watching a pair of old, familiar lovers, for whom intimacy was as natural as breathing.

She wondered, not for the first time, why Misaki was keeping the relationship so quiet.

"What were you going to say, before I sent you back for the shirt?" Misaki asked him.

Li's eyes were on Kanami as she returned to her spot on the sofa. "You care about this doll?"

"Of course," Kanami said. Something about the question niggled at the back of her mind, like she was missing something important. But she couldn't figure out what it was, so she ignored it. "I care about all my mediums."

"Why?"

The question was direct and blunt, and without any inflection in his voice or expression on his face she couldn't tell if he was being derisive or if he was genuinely curious. Misaki was looking at him with an affectionate smile.

That gave Kanami the cue she needed to know how to answer. To any disinterested person or official, she would have said that she cared because the mediums were indispensable to their work at Astronomics. To Li, she said, "Because they were people once. They deserve better than the way we treat them."

Li seemed satisfied with that answer, though his expression didn't change. "Dolls can speak to each other," he said. "If you want to know how your doll is feeling, you can ask another doll to ask for you."

It was a naïve suggestion. The discovery that mediums could speak to each other psychically had ignited a fervor amongst doll researchers, but the excitement had died down quickly when it became apparent how limited the application of such an ability was.

"Yes, it's true that dolls can communicate," Kanami said patiently. "But only within the strictures of their programming. Relaying information, for example. To ask a doll how she feels would be meaningless; dolls have no sense of self. No concept of 'I'."

"I've heard dolls referring to themselves," Misaki said with a confused frown.

Kanami nodded. "It's just a grammatical construct, part of their language programming that allows them to communicate with us. Only words; there's no abstract meaning beneath them. They can be programmed to express preset emotions, and some of the more advanced programs - personality replacement, for example - certainly make it appear that they feel. But their higher brain function, including the ability to feel emotion, is lost completely. Strip away the program, and there's nothing there."

"Do you really believe that?" Li asked her quietly.

She opened her mouth to explain that brain scans always turned up negative, so yes, she did believe that, but then closed it again.

"I don't know," she admitted at last. "But it doesn't really matter. None of our dolls have any sort of language programming; they all function directly off of code. They don't possess knowledge of abstracts, like thoughts or feelings, any more than a computer does. I can talk to her all I want, but she can't understand me."

"You said your doll can't send out her specter anymore?"

"No. She's not even connected to the system right now anyway; we have her in quarantine." That feeling like she was missing something important in the conversation was back, but she still couldn't identify it. Maybe she had had too much wine after all.

"Is there any water in the room? Within her line of sight?"

Kanami had no idea where this line of questioning was going. Misaki was giving Li an odd look, but she seemed to understand more than Kanami did.

"She's in a stasis chamber," Kanami said, "that's seventy-five percent water. But her eyes are closed."

"I don't know if that would make a difference," Li said, apparently to himself. "I can ask Yin."

"Are you sure?" Misaki cut in, a look of surprised disbelief on her face. "I mean, is that safe?"

He shrugged lightly. "I think she'll want to help, if she can. It shouldn't be a problem if we're careful."

Kanami was starting to feel really lost now. "What are you two talking about?" she asked.

Li gave Kanami a piercing look that sent a chill down her spine, then turned to Misaki. "You trust her?"

"Yes," her friend answered without hesitation.

He nodded once, relaxing slightly. "It'll be easier if she's there, so she can talk directly to Yin. Meet us at the address in Roppongi in an hour, unless I let you know otherwise."

Misaki nodded, smiling warmly at him. "You really have a soft spot for dolls, don't you."

"I don't have soft spots," Li said in cynical tone, turning away from her.

Misaki's smile deepened, and she ruffled his hair. "Your things are still a little damp; they're in the bathroom. You can wear the shirt out." She yawned. "I'd better make some coffee, if I'm going to drive to Roppongi."


	2. Chapter 2

"Why are we going to Roppongi?" Kanami asked, rubbing her forehead. She hadn't had _that_ much to drink - she was definitely missing something out of this conversation, that Misaki and Li weren't saying. But neither of them answered her. Li rose to his feet in a fluid motion and disappeared into the bedroom. Misaki collected her and Kanami's wine glasses and took them to the kitchen.

Kanami followed her.

"Sorry to interrupt your evening," she said. Then not being able to help herself, she added, "I hope you didn't have any special plans with Li."

"Oh, no, we already - I mean -" Misaki turned a gratifyingly bright shade of red; Kanami tried without much success to hide a grin.

"I was just going to go over these case notes again," Misaki said hurriedly, and began gathering up the mess on the counter.

"But you fell asleep instead?" Kanami asked, grinning openly now. Misaki didn't answer, just focused her eyes on straightening the stack of papers in her hands.

Kanami picked up a couple of papers that had fallen to the floor; the top sheet was a report on an incident suspected to have involved the Black Reaper.

"Well, I'm glad that your obsession with BK-201 isn't getting in the way of things with Li. To tell the truth, I was a little worried about that - but it looks like you've found a way to have them both."

The stack of files slipped from Misaki's hands to spill out across the floor. "Too much wine," she muttered. Kanami helped her collect them into a messy pile, looking askance at her friend.

"Would you mind getting the coffee started while I go get dressed?" Misaki asked when they had returned the files to the countertop.

"Sure." Kanami watched, curious, as Misaki crossed the living room to the hallway, then pulled over the coffee canister and began making the coffee. While she did, she replayed the earlier conversation in her head, trying to make sense of it - and of Misaki's strange behavior.

"Where's Li?" she asked when Misaki returned, dressed now in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

She poured out a cup of coffee, black, and passed it over the counter to her friend. The aroma of the brewing coffee had sharpened her mind enough that that question lurking in the back of her brain had finally made itself clear; but she didn't want to ask it until Li was gone. She added sugar to her own cup, and drank as much of the hot liquid as she could manage. She wished that she could have a cigarette as well; she could use one.

Misaki blew onto her coffee before taking a sip. "He left already, to pick up Yin."

"What?" Kanami looked out into the living room, as if Li might be standing in there still, despite Misaki's claim. "I never even heard him."

"He's quiet - I never hear him leave either."

 _Never?_ Kanami raised an eyebrow, her question pushed to the side again. "Just how often does he stay over?"

Her friend hesitated at first, then answered, "Almost every night."

"Every…Misaki, I know I rag on you all the time about taking things too slow, but isn't this a little, well, fast? Just how serious are you?"

Misaki shrugged uncomfortably. "Honestly, it doesn't feel too fast at all. It feels…right, I guess. Natural. I don't know about serious though - we don't talk about things like commitment or long-term plans. It just…is what it is."

If it had been anyone other than Misaki, Kanami would have been worried. The secrecy, the fast progression of the relationship could be warning signs of a potentially dangerous situation. But she trusted her friend's judgment. And she had no reason to dislike Li; just the opposite.

"Well," she said, "he's certainly crazy about you."

Misaki blushed a little. "Do you think so? Sometimes, I'm not really sure."

Kanami gave a snort. "Then you're an idiot - can't you see the way he looks at you?"

Her friend looked shyly down into her coffee, but Kanami could tell that she was gratified. Honestly, how could she not see it?

"So, I have two questions," Kanami said. "Who is Yin and why are we going to Roppongi? But first: how the hell does Li know about dolls?"

She tried to keep the accusation out of her voice, and wasn't sure that she'd succeeded. He'd spoken with such familiarity; that was what had been bothering her subconscious. There was no way that Misaki would have told a civilian anything relating to the classified part of her work - but how else could Li have found out?

"That's three questions," Misaki pointed out; but at Kanami's look, she sighed.

"Li," she began, then stopped herself, seeming to gather her thoughts. She started again. "Li trusts me, and I trust you, to not say anything about this, to anyone."

"Of course," Kanami said, a little worried by the serious tone in her friend's voice.

Misaki took a long sip of coffee, as if to delay what she was going to say next. She swallowed, took a breath, and said, "Li is working for a crime syndicate here in Tokyo; or maybe a foreign intelligence service, I'm not sure. Anyway, he knows about dolls because he's done a lot of work with them. Yin is a doll who belongs to his organization. He's going to ask her to talk to Eunice for you, and see if we can figure out a way to help her. They have a safe house in Roppongi; I guess it'll be best for us all to meet there, instead of here or at his place or Yin's."

Kanami stared blankly. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. She latched onto the first thought that entered her head. "What do you mean, he works for a crime syndicate? He's a criminal? Li?" That didn't fit with her mental image of him at all.

Misaki nodded, a sad, half smile on her face. "You see why we're trying to keep our relationship a secret? I could lose my job for this; and the penalty for him if his employers ever find out would be severe. We've tried to stay away from each other, but…it's just too impossible."

Misaki must really love him, Kanami thought, for her to be putting herself in such a position. And she still couldn't imagine Li as any kind of criminal. "What organization does he work for?" she asked. "What does he do?"

"I don't know who he works for - he won't tell me, and I haven't been able to figure it out. And I don't know exactly what his job is; just that he takes a lot of menial jobs, you know, like as a waiter or janitor. The kind of job that would let him observe people without being noticed."

Misaki wasn't meeting Kanami's eyes - was she lying about something? Then suddenly, something clicked into place in Kanami's mind.

"Wait a minute," she said. "You told me that you first met Li at Alice's party - he was on the catering staff. That was also when you and Saitou came face to face with BK-201 for the first time."

Her friend's face went a little pale; Kanami was sure that she was on the right track. She leaned forward and lowered her voice, even though there was no one else in the room to hear.

"Does he work for the same people as BK-201?"

Misaki's mouth opened slightly before she recovered herself and gave a grudging sigh. "I - yes, I think so."

Kanami frowned. "Please tell me you're not sleeping with Li in order to get more information on the Black Reaper?" Before tonight, she wouldn't have thought her friend capable of such a ploy; but before tonight, she wouldn't have thought her capable of pursuing a relationship with a man she knew to be violating the law.

"No!" Misaki said, surprised indignation on her face. "No, of course not! It's completely separate from that! I mean, of course I'm dying to figure out what organization is backing BK-201, but I don't ask him about it. He wouldn't tell me anyway; he's actually pretty loyal to the people he works with on the ground, and he won't do anything to betray them. Especially Yin," she added, a little fondly.

"I don't want to ask this," Kanami began slowly, "but…have you considered the idea that he might not be being honest with you? About his motives for seeing you, I mean."

Fortunately, the question didn't offend Misaki. She answered with the stark honesty that was usual in her conversations about work (if not about her relationships).

"Yes, it did cross my mind, in the beginning. But, either he's the world's greatest actor, or he's genuine. I know enough that I'd be a serious risk to him, if he didn't trust me. And he has no reason to _want_ to trust me, unless it's because he has feelings for me.

"Sometimes I can't believe how much he trusts me - like tonight." Her brow furrowed. "I'd never have thought that he would let you know about his knowledge of dolls; after all, he doesn't know you at all. But he has this protective instinct, especially where dolls are concerned; and like he said, _I_ trust you and that's apparently enough for him."

Kanami considered. It did fit with what she'd seen tonight; he'd have to be an excellent actor to fake the quiet, subtle affection he'd shown towards Misaki. "How did someone as good-natured as him get involved with an organization that employs contractors like the Black Reaper? I can't picture it."

Misaki smiled. "I know; it doesn't fit his personality at all. I can't tell you the details; but, he originally joined them because he thought it would be the best way to protect his sister." Then her smile slipped. "He won't admit it, but he's in over his head now, and he can't see a way out."

"Can't you give him a way out? I mean, he must have some useful information that he can trade for an immunity deal."

"I did suggest it," Misaki said. "He refused flat-out. He doesn't think that we can protect him from his organization, and honestly, he's probably right about that. I mean, they employ contractors like BK-201, after all." She gave a rueful smile. "But I think one big reason why he doesn't leave is because he's worried about what will happen to Yin without him."

"Yin is the doll he knows; the one we're going to go see?" She'd almost forgotten about that, she was so surprised by the revelation of Misaki's - or rather, Li's - secret. Her heart ached for her friend, caught up in a love affair that didn't seem likely to have a happy ending. A cop and a criminal? It was the stuff of cheesy romance novels; not reality.

Misaki nodded. "He looks after her like she's his own sister. It's really sweet."

"Well, at least he's not a contractor," Kanami mused.

She thought she saw something pass across Misaki's face at those words, but dismissed it as a lingering effect of the alcohol. Li being mixed up in the world of organized crime was hard enough to believe; no way was he a contractor. And anyone who treated dolls with care and respect was a worthwhile person, in her book.

Misaki set down her coffee mug. "We should get going."

Kanami left her jacket in the bathroom - it wasn't actually dripping like it had been, but it was still pretty waterlogged - and followed Misaki downstairs. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle, giving the air a cold, misty feel.

They took Misaki's Porsche; even though Kanami was feeling perfectly sober and alert after the coffee, she had had twice as much wine as Misaki, and her police officer friend wasn't about to trust her behind the wheel. And this way, Misaki wouldn't have to complain about the smell of smoke in the car.

"So," she said as Misaki pulled out of the building's underground parking garage, "how is Li going to get Yin to Roppongi? Does he have access to her, or will he have to break into some place and take her?"

"I think he's just going to stop by her place and ask if she wants to help - Yin has enough programming to live independently. I didn't even realize that she was a doll the first time I met her, though I started to suspect it later." Misaki paused while she shifted gears to make a turn through a rain-soaked intersection. "Actually, that's what eventually led me to finding out about Li. Anyway, I don't know if anyone is watching her, but he obviously doesn't think it'll be a problem picking her up; and he would know."

"She can live on her own? That's an expensive programming package; hard to maintain, too." Kanami thought about it. "She must have full language capabilities then - that's why Li thinks she'll be helpful in talking to Eunice?"

"She speaks Japanese perfectly."

Kanami sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what Li is willing to do, to help Eunice. But, it's like I said before: even if Eunice could understand and speak Japanese too, it wouldn't make a difference. She's a doll. They both are. They have no concept of feelings."

"Didn't you say that you thought Eunice was depressed? How can she be, if she has no feelings?" Misaki was smiling.

"Ok, yes, I know." Kanami massaged her temple. She really didn't know what to believe. "What do you think?" she asked Misaki.

Her friend was quiet for a moment. "I think it's possible. Yin is…different than other dolls I've met, though I admit I haven't met many. I told you I didn't think that she was a doll at first, but that wasn't entirely because of her programming. It was because I got the impression that she genuinely cares about H- Li, and worries about his well-being. And she told me…she told me that she remembers being sad when her mother died."

"Seriously?" Kanami asked, incredulous. That wasn't something that would normally be programmed into a doll, unless it was a full-fledged personality construct. And dolls that belonged to crime syndicates were typically used for reconnaissance or surveillance; personalities interfered with that function.

Misaki nodded. "And Li told me a few days ago about another doll, that he was helping a friend rescue from the Yakuza. Remember when we saw him buying those clothes in the mall? That's what they were really for," she said with a laugh. "Anyway, he said that when he got back to his place, Yin was there. She'd seen what he was doing, and decided on her own to come help."

Misaki must be mistaken, Kanami decided, and Yin did have a full personality program. What she was describing wasn't possible otherwise. Or else, she'd been acting on orders from someone in their organization, keeping tabs on Li.

"This other doll," Misaki continued, "the one that they were helping, didn't have any programming at all; but at one point they got separated, and the doll sent a specter to Yin asking for help, and directed them straight to her and the kid who was trying to save her."

Kanami's eyes widened. It was too far-fetched to believe. But Misaki believed it; Li obviously did, too. For the first time all week, Kanami started to feel a real glimmer of hope about Eunice's situation.

"But," she said, trying to temper her optimism, "it still may all be for nothing. Even if you're right, if Yin and this other doll have been able to overcome some of their limitations as dolls, that doesn't mean that Eunice is the same."

"Maybe not," Misaki agreed. "But isn't it worth a try?"

Kanami couldn't argue with that.


	3. Chapter 3

Misaki pulled up to the curb outside of an apartment building in Roppongi, and they exited the car. Kanami started to walk towards the entrance, but to her surprise, her friend turned down the street.

"It's on the next block," Misaki explained. "I didn't want to park right in front of it, in case anyone is watching - it's best to be careful."

"Do you have to do this every time you want to see him?"

Misaki didn't look at her, but kept her eyes forward, scanning the street. "We never meet in public; he only ever comes to my place. After dark, when he's sure it's safe. Then he leaves in the morning, before the sun comes up. I was completely shocked when he sat down with me that night at the bar, it was such a big risk."

 _Romantic_ , Kanami thought cheerlessly _._ But she didn't need to tell Misaki how crazy this relationship was. She hoped with all her heart that things wouldn't end badly for either one of them. "There could be specters watching - don't you worry about that?"

Misaki turned off the sidewalk and into the courtyard of a large apartment complex; Kanami followed.

"Yin knows about us," Misaki said as she started up a flight of metal stairs. "Though to what extent, I'm not sure. I am sure that she'd tell Li if another doll was tracking either one of us."

"She'd do that on her own?" Kanami was still having trouble believing that a doll could act so independently. "Or would she need an order? What if someone else in the organization tells her to track Li?"

"I asked him about that once. He thinks that if he asks her to _not_ report honestly on his movements, then that would supersede a contrary order. Or at least, that Yin could choose to listen to him over anyone else. He doesn't have a high opinion of his own ranking in their group," she added, sounding a little disbelieving.

A doll making choices…Kanami was really looking forward to meeting Yin herself. "He's sure that she would? Choose to protect him, I mean?"

"She's done it before. She did it for me once, too." Misaki smiled.

Misaki stopped in front of a door on the second floor and tested the handle. It didn't turn. "Looks like we're the first. Wait here a sec," she said, and trotted back down the corridor to the staircase. Kanami lost sight of her when she turned the corner; but a few seconds later she reappeared, heading back.

"Still there," Misaki said, holding up a key, which she fit into the lock of the door. She turned the handle; this time, the door swung open. Misaki stepped carefully into the apartment and turned on the lights. After she scanned the room for a minute, she gestured for Kanami to follow.

Kanami walked in behind Misaki and shut the door, then looked around. The place was small and dull. Generic. What did Misaki say this was? A safe house?

"You've been here before?" she asked.

"Once." Misaki leaned against the back of a small sofa in the living room; Kanami joined her. "After we met at that bar."

Kanami folder her arms. "You told me nothing happened after that."

Misaki at least had the grace to look a little ashamed. "Nothing did happen. Well, we fell asleep together on the sofa. And kissed a little the next morning. Then we decided not to see each other again."

"Because you're a cop, he's a criminal, and it'll never work out in the end?"

Misaki shrugged sadly. But she was saved from answering when the door swung silently open and Li ushered in a young woman. Kanami looked at her with interest.

She was European, with long silver-blond hair tied up in a ponytail, dressed in a simple purple dress. Her face was the usual expressionless face of a doll, and her heavy-lidded eyes looked empty. Her arms hung lifeless at her sides.

But she stopped in front of Misaki without prompting, and said in a soft voice, "Hello Misaki."

Misaki smiled. "Hi Yin. Thanks for coming over - sorry to wake you up so late."

The doll shook her head once.

"I told her she could go back to sleep if she wanted," Li explained, shutting the door behind him. He'd changed into a loose-fitting shirt and jeans, Kanami noticed with disappointment. "She didn't want to."

"Yin, this is my friend, Kanami," Misaki said.

Yin angled her head in Kanami's general direction. It was a little odd; most dolls were programmed to make eye contact.

"Chief Ishizaki," the doll said.

Kanami nodded. "That's right. Did Li tell you about me?"

"Gustav," was all that Yin said, but the name sent of jolt straight through Kanami.

"How do you know about Gustav?" she asked in stunned surprise, barely noticing as Li detached himself from the group and headed into the kitchen.

Yin still wasn't looking at her, but Kanami thought that maybe her expression wasn't as vacant as she'd first thought.

"His specter looks into the tobacco shop every day," the doll said.

"What?" was all Kanami managed.

"Yin works at a small cigarette stand," Misaki explained. But that was hardly what was confusing Kanami.

"How do you know his name is Gustav?" she asked the doll. "It isn't. I mean, _I_ call him Gustav, but his ident number is _M1045A_. I don't even know his original name, we don't have a background on him."

"'Gustav' is how he thinks of himself."

Kanami was speechless. It seemed that Misaki and Li had been right. She felt her entire world imploding around her.

"Why does Gustav's specter visit the tobacco stand?" Misaki asked. "Is it on a prescribed surveillance route?"

Kanami put a hand to her temple. "I don't know. I don't know where this tobacco stand is. We have defined surveillance routes, with some mediums set for random scans. I've noticed that certain mediums perform best when their task is routine, but others are better with variety. Gustav…" she ran through the current list of medium assignments in her head. "Gustav I usually have on a random scan. But I've never noticed that he visits the same place every day; he definitely doesn't always use the same route to get there, or I'd've seen that."

"That doesn't answer the question of _why_ ," Misaki said. "Yin, do you know?"

The doll turned her head back towards Misaki. "He likes to say hello."

"Oh my god," Kanami breathed, staring openly. Had Yin been told to say that? Or was it true? How could it be?

"Yin, the water's ready," Li said from behind them. Kanami turned; he had placed a shallow tray of water on the floor in front of the sofa.

Without a word, Yin walked around the sofa. She stopped in front of the tray. Slipping off her shoes, she stepped her bare feet into the water and sat down on the seat cushion, folding her hands neatly in her lap.

"She's a water medium?" Kanami asked in surprise.

Li gave a curt nod. Misaki's brow furrowed. "Is there something strange about that?" she asked.

"No, they're just really rare." Kanami had some theories, but no one knew for sure why water mediums were so less common than the other types.

Misaki had joined Li in leaning against the half wall that separated the living room from the kitchen. That left the seat next to Yin open; Kanami sat down gingerly, as if Yin might object. The doll didn't appear to notice, just stared blankly ahead.

"Did Li tell you what we need you to do?" she asked.

Yin nodded once. "Talk to Eunice."

"Do you know who Eunice is?"

" _F2203O_."

"How…" Kanami began faintly, but Yin wasn't finished speaking.

"She prefers 'Eunice'."

Misaki was smiling; Li's face bore a slight trace of consternation, but he seemed to be more approving than not. Both of them were keeping quiet, and leaving the questions to Kanami.

However, Kanami was having trouble finding words. "Have you talked with her before?" she managed at last. "Is that how you know she prefers to be called 'Eunice'?"

Yin nodded again. "She visits sometimes too. Used to."

The idea of dolls using their specters to pay social calls was more than a little fascinating. Why had no one discovered this before? _Because no one was looking_ , she thought with disgust. _Because we wanted to see what they could do for_ us _, not what was best for them_.

"When did she stop?" Kanami asked.

A pause while Yin seemed to consider, though her expression never changed; then she answered, "Five days ago."

"That was when her vitals started falling into the warning zone, and we disconnected her," Kanami mused. "But I'd already reduced her time online and moved her onto a prescribed route days before. I wonder…were the deviations from her route that I saw after that, her visiting you, instead of anomalies?"

Yin didn't answer. She had no way of knowing.

"She's not hooked into our system anymore," Kanami told Yin, unsure of exactly what to say. "The stasis chamber she's in is seventy-five percent water - will that be enough for you to send a specter straight there?"

"It's enough."

Kanami was about to ask her if she would contact Eunice, when Yin said, "They miss her. The others."

"…the other mediums at Astronomics? They miss Eunice?"

A nod. "They can still see her, but they can't talk to her. When they're together, they're like…family. It's sad when one goes away."

Kanami raised a hand to her mouth. She'd never imagined anything like this. It was a full minute before she'd recovered enough to ask, "Have you found Eunice? Can you ask her if…if she knows what's wrong? If there's anything I can do to help her?"

Yin answered right away. "She misses the grass."

Grass? Kanami was momentarily stumped. Then she remembered. "That's right; she's a green medium."

"Green?" Misaki asked.

Kanami nodded. "Her natural medium is in growing things - grass, the leaves of trees, things like that. We call it 'green'."

Misaki looked confused. "I thought all the dolls at Astronomics had electrical affinities, so they can travel the power lines. You mean they can use other mediums too?"

"No," Kanami said. "A large percentage of dolls _are_ electrical mediums, but at Astronomics we have a mix of other mediums, and they're all wired into one system. Whatever their natural medium is - green, stone, electrical - we bypass that with a direct link to their brains. It limits their range somewhat - if there aren't any power lines nearby, or the power source is off the grid, we're out of luck - but it enables us to network them. It's more efficient that way." _God, I sound like Mizuta,_ she thought to herself.

She continued, "When I was going back through Eunice's records to try and determine what was wrong, I saw that her medium is green; but it didn't jump out at me as being important in any way. Yin," she said, turning to the doll next to her, "can you explain what that means? That she misses the grass? Is she having trouble with her connection to the network, that we couldn't find?"

It took Yin a moment to answer; Kanami was wondering if she was relaying the question to Eunice. It was a little frightening, the idea that after all this time of talking to the medium without ever receiving an answer, now Eunice was finally talking back.

"She sees people, everyday," Yin said at last. "In the park. Under trees. Playing in the grass, touching it. They're happy. She remembers when she used to touch it too. It made her happy. Now, it makes her sad."

Once again, Kanami found herself momentarily speechless.

"Yin," she asked slowly, after a long minute, "would it make you sad, if you couldn't touch water anymore?"

Yin turned her face towards Kanami for the first time since she'd sat down. "Yes," the doll said in her quiet voice. "I think so."

Eunice had been a doll for ten years. For nine years, she'd been part of Astronomics' network. Nine years of being confined to a stasis chamber, wired directly into a computer system. The chamber was basically an isolation tank: the saline solution was kept at body temperature; floating, the dolls had no sense of touch or gravity; no light except the glow of computer screens; no sound except the chatter of the staff, ignoring her as if she was a piece of furniture.

Nine years of watching the world through her specters, but being completely cut off from it, unable to experience it directly. Of course she was depressed; how was it even possible that the others _weren't_?

As if she knew what Kanami was thinking, Yin said, "She likes watching the people. And she likes being with the others. It used to be enough. Now it isn't."

"So," Kanami said, struggling to keep a tear from escaping her eye, "disconnecting her from the system probably isn't helping."

"She knows you're trying," Yin told her. "They all do."

"All?"

"Most of them are still asleep. They don't know any different. The ones who are starting to wake up, like Gustav and Eunice, they know."

"Wake up?" Kanami wasn't sure if she should be thrilled, or horrified. What did it mean for a doll to wake up? "You mean, not all our dolls are like you, aware of themselves?"

Yin nodded once.

"But the scans always show complete lack of cortical activity - we scanned Eunice again just the other day. If this is true, that she and others _do_ think for themselves and feel emotion…then what we're doing is completely unethical. The implications of this…I need to tell the Committee what you've told me."

"No," Li broke in sharply.

Kanami looked up at him in surprise; Yin turned her head too.

"Do what you want with your own dolls," Li said, his voice cold and hard, "but leave Yin out of it. Completely."

Kanami wasn't easily intimidated, but she found herself fixed by his dark-eyed gaze. Suddenly it wasn't difficult at all for her to imagine him as part of the organization that employed the Black Reaper.

Then Misaki elbowed him sharply in the ribs; he turned to his lover in surprise.

"Kanami's already promised not to tell anyone about Yin," Misaki told him sternly. "Be nice."

His eyes softened, and he turned back to Kanami with a contrite expression. "Sorry," he said, so much like a sullen teenager that she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"It's alright," she said. "I was just thinking out loud; I won't do anything that could potentially compromise Yin, or you. I need to find out more before I do anything, in any case."

Li nodded. Kanami noticed that he had slipped an arm behind Misaki's back, as if silently apologizing to her as well.

She turned back to the doll. "Yin, don't worry, I won't tell anyone about you. I -" she broke off as her phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket and glanced at the display. One of the lab lines.

"Ishizaki," she answered.

"Chief," Mizuta responded. "You said to call if anything changed with _F2203O_ …" His voice trailed off uncertainly, and Kanami felt a spike of alarm.

"What's happened?"

"Well, I checked her vitals just now, and there's been a slight improvement in heart rate."

That was good news; had just talking with Yin helped? "How much of an improvement?" she asked.

"Very slight," Mizuta told her. "I had to look twice to see it."

"Is that all?" She sighed wearily, surprised that Mizuta had even made the effort to look for it. She'd been hoping for more, but why should there be any larger changes? They hadn't actually done anything.

But her heart jumped at Mizuta's next words. "Well, no," he said. "There's one more thing; that's why I checked her vitals in the first place. I've looked everything over, but I can't understand it."

"What is it?"

"Her eyes are open, and they're tracking." He sounded completely dumbfounded; Kanami _felt_ completely dumbfounded. Eye movement, outside of REM sleep (which dolls didn't experience) was under voluntary muscle control. No doll was capable of it without programming. If she'd needed proof of Yin's words, that was it.

She made a snap decision. "Start prepping her for transition to dry-bed."

"You want to do a procedure? We can wipe her without -"

"No wiping," Kanami interrupted sharply. "And no procedure. I want to try something different."

She hung up the phone, and for a moment just stared at it in her hand, thinking.

"Is everything alright?" Misaki asked in a worried tone.

"I don't know. Maybe. It's not worse, anyway." Kanami tucked the phone into her pocket. "Yin, were her eyes open when you were talking to her?"

The doll nodded. "Yes. So she could see me."

"Can you ask her something for me?"

Yin waited patiently with her feet in the tray of water.

"Does Eunice want to stay part of the Astronomics network? Or…I don't know. Maybe I can find another place for her, where she can be happy." What sort of place that would be, she had no idea - but she'd find it.

But Yin shook her head. "She wants to stay."

Kanami smiled in relief. More than just relief; Eunice _wanted_ to be part of her team. "I'm glad," she said with real feeling. "Tell her not to worry; we're going to take care of her."

"She knows."

"Good. Thanks for all your help, Yin." Unable to help herself, Kanami leaned over and gave Yin a friendly hug. The doll didn't react, but when Kanami pulled away, she gave a small, almost shy, nod.

"I have one more question," Kanami said. She had dozens - hundreds - but it was late, and she wanted to get back to the lab as soon as possible. "Why does she prefer the name 'Eunice'?"

For a second time, Yin turned her face towards Kanami. "Because you gave it to her."

~~~~o~~~~

A few days later, the sun beat down warmly on the park behind the Astronomics observatory. "This looks like a good spot," Kanami said, stopping under a leafy tree.

Her assistant, Hanada, halted the wheelchair she was pushing and set the brakes. Kanami settled herself on the ground next to the wheelchair. "Don't forget the foot rests," she told Hanada.

"Oh, right!" Hanada folded up the foot rests, carefully placing Eunice's bare feet on the grassy lawn.

"I still don't really see how lunch outside counts as treatment," Hanada said, joining Kanami on the ground and accepting the lunch box that she handed over. "Mizuta thinks you're being irresponsible. Or crazy. It changes depending on when you ask him."

Kanami stretched out her legs and leaned back to look at the sky, dotted with puffy white clouds. "Mizuta's not the boss. And until he can explain how Eunice has been recovering so quickly, he can just shut up about it."

Hanada giggled. She was one of the staff who Kanami trusted to join her in such an unconventional experiment.

It was going to take time to persuade the entire team to her way of thinking. Despite seeing Eunice's open eyes for himself, and despite being unable to explain it any other way, Mizuta still refused to believe what Kanami had suggested, that the mediums could think and understand more than the so-called experts thought. Proving that exposing an ailing doll to her natural medium was therapeutic was just the first step - the only step, for now - that Kanami could take.

She wanted to track down Yin and ask her more questions - just talk with her, really, about what it was like being a doll - but she owed Yin for all for her help, and didn't want to repay her by attracting the attention of supervisors who would consider her broken, and reprogram her. Li had been especially adamant about that, though he'd expressed it a little more kindly the second time. And Kanami agreed with him - reprogramming a doll as evolved as Yin would be nothing less than tragic

This was Eunice's first trip outside. Transitioning a doll from isolation to the full sensory experience of the world took time, and Kanami didn't think that it would be feasible to do it more than once a month. But after she'd mentioned her plan to Eunice, limitations and all, the doll's vitals had started improving almost immediately. She didn't even need a respirator now, but sat breathing in the clean air of the park.

The doll's bare head was covered with a scarf and dark sunglasses protected her sensitive eyes from the bright daylight. She made no visible reaction to the touch of the grass, but Kanami could swear that now there was a slight upward curve to her lips.

_fin_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just for fun, Misaki's POV from the beginning of Wine and Sympathy

Misaki gave her damp hair one more vigorous rub before settling the towel on her shoulders. She usually preferred to shower in the mornings after her swim, but she'd been caught in the downpour on her way home from the office and the rain had chilled her to the bone. A hot shower had been the only fix.

She'd been hoping that Hei would arrive before she finished; she had a fantasy of being in the bath or shower, and him slipping into the room without her noticing. He would step into the water behind her and wrap his arms around her…but the one time that she'd suggested showering together, he'd only said, "Yin." So she was resigned to that scenario remaining a fantasy.

Still, it would have been nice to find him waiting for her in the bedroom. But no such luck.

It was still relatively early, before midnight, and Misaki didn't like going to bed with damp hair. She put on a comfy pair of shorts and a tank top, and settled herself on a barstool at her kitchen counter. The sound of the rain beating down outside made a pleasant background to her thoughts.

She'd brought home a stack of files - everything that Section Four had on EPR and its suspected members, as well as all reports concerning BK-201. Removing them from her briefcase where they had remained mercifully dry, she spread them out across the countertop and began organizing them into piles.

EPR had been silent ever since they had released their manifesto, and she was worried that they were planning something loud and splashy, something that would make the existence of contractors known across the world. If only their leader would come forward, they could try negotiating. There must be some way for EPR to get what they wanted - equal rights for contractors, something that Misaki was inclined to support - without more innocent people getting hurt.

But who was their leader? Hourai had told her that EPR was under the direction of UB-001: a contractor who had been in the South American conflict, and who had activated her power not long before the disaster at Heaven's Gate…BK-201 had been active around that time too. Misaki tapped a pen against her wrist absently. Hei knew UB-001; he'd been meeting with her at the shrine.

Misaki tried to picture the scene in her mind again. She'd only gotten the briefest of looks. Hei had been standing with his back to her, outlined in blue as if ready to release his power. UB-001 had been in front of him, blocked from Misaki's view, and had activated her power before Hei had had a chance to use his; at least, that was what it looked like from Astronomics' report. Misaki pulled the report out and stared at it, willing it to reveal to her what had happened that night.

 _Something_ had certainly happened - Hei, UB-001, and anyone else who had been there (she was sure that there had been more people, though she couldn't say how many) had vanished without a trace in just seconds. And Misaki's glasses had mysteriously moved to the top of her head.

What was UB-001's ability, exactly? They didn't have any data on that. All she knew was that UB-001 had once worked for MI-6. Maybe November 11 would know; she would feel more comfortable asking him than asking Hei. South America was an especially touchy subject with her lover.

Misaki sighed to herself. It always came back to Hei. He had been prepared to kill EPR's leader that night, before UB-001 had used her ability. Misaki didn't know for sure, but her gut feeling told her that it was personal for him, and not an assignment. And personal to Hei meant his sister, whose Messier code he still wasn't willing to share with her.

She thought back to the first time that she'd asked him about his sister's star, and his response: _There's only one person who knows what happened to Bai. But she won't talk; she's just been toying with me. That's all she's ever done_. Was that person UB-001? Someone he'd known during the war, someone he'd trusted? A teammate? …A lover?

And what had Morado said, when Hei was questioning him in Yokohama. Misaki's English wasn't great, but she thought that she'd followed the conversation well enough. Morado had teased Hei about always being with two women, and Misaki being his "new" lover. Hei had asked Morado about Bai, and then about someone named Amber, as if there was a connection between the two. Morado had been visibly worried by the idea that this Amber was in Tokyo.

Was Amber UB-001? Hourai's intel had UB-001's name as February, but that was with MI-6; it would make sense for her to change her codename upon joining another organization. Misaki tried to mentally put the pieces together. EPR's leader was February, who had gone by the name Amber in South America; she and Hei had been lovers during the war.

Misaki realized that she was tapping the pen so hard that she was probably going to leave a bruise on her wrist. She forced herself to stop, and set down the pen.

When Hei had to leave his sister's side to hunt down Morado, that was when Heaven's Gate had vanished. He had trusted Amber, his lover, with his sister, but Bai had disappeared. Amber now showed up in Tokyo five years later, and Hei confronted her at the shrine, to demand answers about Bai - answers that he didn't get, judging by his words to Misaki.

If that was true, if Amber was Hei's former lover…then she was in the city right now. And Hei knew it, was even in some sort of contact with her. What did Amber want from him? She must want something, or she wouldn't have left him alive after their meeting, knowing that he had been planning to attack her. …Or was she trying to rekindle their relationship? Misaki tried to squelch the jealousy threatening to sour her stomach.

Blond. The other woman had been blond, and really, really short. That was all that she could remember. Did he prefer short women?

Misaki sighed in frustration, and pushed the reports on EPR to the side. She should just talk to Hei about it. Surely she could find some way to bring up the subject without making it seem personal. It was hard to get him to talk about his past, but she had noticed that he was more amenable to answering questions when he was relaxed. He'd told her about the Yakuza doll a few nights ago, after all.

But asking him about South America was different. South America...Hei had been there, UB-001 had been there, the greatest contractor-related disaster to have occurred so far had happened there. Something in her gut told her that her answers were there too. Not literally; but maybe by investigating the stars that had been active during the war, especially around the time Heaven's Gate disappeared, and by comparing them with stars currently active around Tokyo and those suspected to be linked to EPR…

Stars. Hourai had told her that BK-201 had shone right before the disappearance of the Gate. Hei had told her that he had been human during the war, and had become a contractor _after_ the disaster.

At least, that was what she'd understood him to be saying. But that didn't make any sense. Was she missing something? She had that feeling in her gut again, that something important was staring her right in the face.

She had to write this down. Misaki picked up her pen, but as she did, the sound of rain suddenly grew louder. She turned to see Hei sliding the balcony door shut behind him, muting the rain once again.

He was wearing his Black Reaper gear, the rainwater dripping steadily from his coat. She smiled at the sight of him all in black, with his wet hair plastered to his forehead. She thought wistfully of her shower fantasy again.

"Here," she said, setting her pen down and slipping down from the barstool, "you can hang your coat in the bathroom to dry."

He shrugged off his coat without a word and headed down the hallway, Misaki following behind. He seemed to be moving a little stiffly, she thought. In the bathroom, Hei draped the coat over the shower curtain rod, then turned to her. His face was drawn.

She wrapped her arms around him in a way that avoided her touching his knives, and pressed her face into his chest. His hands went to her waist, caressing her tenderly, and he pulled her close.

"Mm," she murmured, her voice muffled by the smooth fabric of his shirt. "You're soaking wet."

"It's raining," he said.

She loved the way he could reduce something to the simplest terms possible. "Is something wrong?" she asked. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

He rested his cheek against her head. "No. Just tired."

She didn't want to know what he'd been doing that would wear him down so much.

"Why don't you get into bed and get some sleep? I still have some work to finish up, I'll join you when I'm done." That was another fantasy of hers: a normal relationship with him, one in which they could both come home at night to an apartment that they shared, and cuddle together in a bed that belonged to them both. It was possible. Maybe.

Hei squeezed her once, then let go. "Alright."

He unbuckled his weapons harness, but instead of lowering it into the bathtub to continue undressing, he drew one of his long double-bladed knives and examined it. Water dripped from the end of blade; Misaki watched the drops fall uneasily.

"Can I see that towel?" he asked. It took Misaki a second to realize that he was talking about the towel that was still around her shoulders.

"It's still a little damp," she said, but she pulled it off and handed it over.

Hei took the towel and spread it in the bottom of the tub. "It's alright," he said. He then took the hand towel that was hanging above the toilet and dried his knife thoroughly. He laid the weapon on the towel in the tub, then drew another blade and proceeded to dry that one.

A dutiful soldier, taking care of his weapons before himself, Misaki mused. Or was he an artist, caring for his instruments?

She leaned against the sink and tried to ignore the heat spreading through her body at the sight of his muscles, moving beneath his shirt. He needed to sleep, and she needed to get back to her work; she was on the verge of making some important connections - she knew she was, and she couldn't afford to be distracted right now.

When he finished with his knives, he stripped off his harnesses and belt and bent to place them in the tub. Misaki moved up behind him, and as he straightened she slipped her hands in his waistband and with light fingers, took hold of the hem of his sodden shirt. He let her pull it up over his head, then removed it from his arms himself and hung it up next to his coat.

Misaki trailed her fingers down his sides, then across his stomach as he turned to face her. His skin was cool and still wet with rain water; he must have been out in the rain for hours.

"This reminds me of our first night together," she said, fidgeting with fastenings of his pants and telling herself that she had to get back to work. Although, if she wanted him to be amenable to questions…

Hei squeezed her bottom gently and pulled her hips against his. "Third," he said as his lips found the corner of her eye.

Misaki closed her eyes and smiled. Was he counting from the night when she'd discovered who he really was, and kissed him? There was a romantic side to her Black Reaper, she was coming to realize, buried deep beneath layers of denial, and she loved whenever it surfaced. She only wished that she was able to draw it out more often.

Cold water was dripping from his hair and wetting her cheeks. "You need to dry off before you catch something," she told him, forcing herself to open her eyes and take a step back. "My spare towels are in my closet; I'll go get one."

She left him in the bathroom and crossed the hall to her bedroom, turning on the lights to keep from tripping over the file boxes that were randomly positioned on the floor. She was usually much more organized than this, but lately she just hadn't had the energy to keep up with her housework; Hei seemed to drain it all from her. Not that she was complaining.

Misaki pulled an old bath towel from the shelf in the back of her closet. She turned to head back to the bathroom - and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Hei, who was standing at the closet door in only his shorts. She hadn't heard him following her.

"Thank you," he said softly, his gaze captivating her. She didn't think she'd ever get used to the way he could just appear behind her, without a sound. She didn't want to get used to it - she loved the way it made her blood pound in her veins.

Hei reached for the towel, the intensity in his eyes increasing as he continued to hold her gaze. Instead of handing it to him, Misaki stepped up until there was the barest inch of space left between them, and began drying his hair herself.

They never broke eye contact as she worked, first massaging his scalp, then continuing down to his shoulders, arms, chest, and back. She smiled when she reached his stomach, stroking his taut muscles slowly through the nap of the towel.

"I thought you were tired," she said.

His voice was heavy. "I am."

She tried to resist the passion building between them; the stack of files waiting for her on the kitchen counter was tugging at the edges of her mind. But at the look in his eyes, the towel slipped from her fingers, and she took hold of his still-damp hair and pulled him closer as he leaned in to kiss her.

Misaki managed to collect herself when they broke for air. She needed to work, and he was exhausted; she could sense his weariness in the way he was leaning into her, holding her instead of caressing her. Maybe there was a compromise.

"You need to get some rest," she said, trying to steady her pulse. "Let me help you."

Hei's grip on her tightened. "Don't say that," he breathed into her ear, sounding almost fearful. "Amber used to say that."

Misaki felt a jolt of surprise. _I was right?_

"Okay," she said, confused yet gratified by his seeming need to distance himself from reminders of his former lover. But if he was willing to bring up the subject himself, maybe she'd be able to get information from him after all. "Okay, I won't. Just tell me what you need."

His voice was low and husky. "I need you." And as his lips moved to the curve of her neck just behind her ear, all thoughts that weren't _Hei_ fled from her mind.

~~~~o~~~~

"Misaki, there's someone at the door," someone whispered urgently into her ear. She tried to tell them to go away and let her sleep, Hei was here and she didn't want to miss a minute with him, but it came out as an unintelligible mumble.

" _Misaki._ " The irritating person shook her shoulder.

She opened her eyes, blinking at the bright light of the lamp beside the bed. Why hadn't she turned it off? "What?" she asked groggily, feeling the bedside table for her glasses.

"Door," was the only answer she got. She found her glasses and put them on in time to see Hei disappear from the room.

"Not again," she muttered to herself as she kicked the covers off and began the hunt for her shirt. There it was, over by the closet.

Hei returned as she was pulling it over her head. He'd put his black pants back on, she saw. He positioned himself against the wall where the opening bedroom door would hide him from sight, every muscle in his body tensed, eyes focused on the hall outside.

She sighed, too tired to let his alertness affect her. "It's probably just Mrs. Matsuda again."

Last week, her elderly neighbor had knocked on her door in the middle of the night, concerned that someone had broken in and was assaulting Misaki, not having heard such sounds coming from her apartment before. _That_ had been embarrassing. Though she had made an effort to be quieter since then. At least Mrs. Matsuda hadn't called the police.

Misaki straightened her tank top, and was halfway into the hall when Hei said softly, "Pants."

She stopped and looked at him, confused. There was nothing wrong with his pants. His expression turned slightly amused at her look, and he made a gesture with his chin. She followed his indication, and saw her own shorts lying crumpled on the bed.

"Shit." She snatched the shorts off the bed and put them on awkwardly as she exited the bedroom, then dashed lightly to the door, going over a few choice words to say to Mrs. Matsuda. At least, she was hoping that it was Mrs. Matsuda; her heart was in her throat at the thought that someone had found her and Hei out, and it was the police. Or worse.

But when she looked through the peephole and saw who her visitor was, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Kanami was looking a little bedraggled and more than a little dispirited; Misaki didn't hesitate to open the door.

"Oh, geez," her friend said upon seeing her. "I'm sorry. I saw your light on, and I was sure you were still awake."

"I was awake," Misaki protested, holding the door open for Kanami to enter.

But Kanami hesitated. "It's not that important; I'll let you get back to sleep."

"You wouldn't be here if it wasn't important. And anyway, I wasn't asleep." She stifled a yawn.

Kanami quirked an eyebrow. "Liar."

Misaki smiled. Kanami could always see right through her. "Fine. I'd dozed off, but I hadn't meant to be asleep yet; I still have work I want to finish up tonight." That much was true; however, once she was lying beside Hei there wasn't much that could move her from his side again. She wasn't going to be getting any work done tonight, with or without Kanami's visit.

"Here," she held out her hand for Kanami's jacket, which was just as drenched as Hei's had been. "I'll hang that in the bathroom. There's a new bottle of wine in the fridge."

"Thanks, a glass of wine would be perfect," Kanami said.

Misaki left Kanami to pour out the wine, and took her jacket to the bathroom. The door to the bedroom was nearly shut and the light was off now, she noticed. She didn't know what was more erotic, the knowledge that she had a secret lover hidden away in her bedroom, or the fact that that lover was a dangerous assassin. She suppressed a delicious shiver.

Then she stepped into the bathroom, and realized that she was going to have to come up with an excuse to keep Kanami out of it. Hei's clothes - except his pants - were still hanging from the curtain rod, and the bathtub was full of knives. There was no way she could move any of it without her friend hearing her. Certainly there was no way she could explain it.

She tossed Kanami's jacket over an empty part of the curtain rod, then turned to leave. As she did, she caught sight of herself in the mirror: her hair was a mess, and her shirt was inside-out. _Geez._ No wonder Kanami had been reluctant to come in. She was going to be hard-pressed to keep Hei's presence tonight a secret.

Misaki straightened herself up as best she could, then left the bathroom. She glanced down the hall toward the living room; it sounded like Kanami was still in the kitchen. She slipped into the dark bedroom.

"Hei?" she whispered. She couldn't see a thing. She turned towards the space behind the door where he'd been standing when she'd left, and almost gasped aloud in shock when he caught her from behind. Almost aloud, because his hand was over her mouth. She could tell it was Hei from the way his chest felt against her back.

"It's just me," she hissed when he removed his hand from her mouth - though he kept his other arm around her waist.

He nipped at her ear. "I know."

A small moan escaped her throat. "Kanami's here; she needs to talk something over. It's important."

"Do you need me to leave?"

Implicit in his question was the suggestion that he didn't _want_ to go, but would if she asked. She loved the words that he didn't say almost more than the ones that he did.

"No," she told him, turning in his arms and kissing him briefly. "Stay and get some sleep; we could be up talking for a while."

He kissed her back, tugging gently at her lower lip. "Alright." Then he let her go, and she felt rather than heard him return to the bed.

She left the bedroom, careful to leave the door slightly ajar so that he could listen for sounds of potential threats - something she had learned to do early on - and suppressed a sigh. So much for her fantasy of a normal relationship.


End file.
